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A group of sailors from Cornwall in southwest England has landed a major record deal after a music executive heard them singing sea shanties in a local pub.
The Fisherman's Friends have signed with Universal Music -- whose roster includes Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse and Take That -- for an estimated one million pounds (1.12 million euros, 1.53 million dollars), news reports said.
The 10 mariners, who have been singing together for more than 15 years, were planning to release an album on their own label, until record producer Rupert Christie heard them performing while on holiday in the Port Isaac area.
Now the musical fishermen, lifeboatmen and coastguards are set to storm the charts when their album is released in April, two months before they are booked to appear at the Glastonbury music festival.
"We don't really know what to expect, to be honest -- we're just making it up as we go along," said fisherman Baritone Brown, one of the group's members who are mostly in their 50s.
"We are booked in for a few festivals, we've got a slot at Glastonbury, but I don't really know too much about it. We might just be playing behind the bar."
